Here are the responses from Cisco and Meraki based on the conversation and the questions we agreed to be sent from the last Standards Committee. Please take some time to review and as it is the beginning of the school year I will ask the WAN Seniors to review and get back to me by September 26. Also Pat Doyle has to review for Erate.
What we need clarification on? -
Plan of Record for Meraki for switch upgrades
- Here is the official response from Lawrence Huang, Switch Product Manager. Cisco Meraki will continue to develop world-class cloud-managed products and will utilize best-in-class technologies as appropriate. For example, Cisco Meraki recently added CDP support to our cloud-managed switches to fully integrate with existing Cisco VoIP infrastructure. In addition, Cisco Meraki is compatible with major ISE use cases today and will add additional support based on customer requirements.
Documented difference between 2960 and 4500 - feature sets
- in progress
We need a list of protocols which are not supported as this is imperative to our support.
- in progress
Documented end of sale end of life on switches - 7 years was stated. - just please confirm that this is all features?
- The link to our EOL policy- https://meraki.cisco.com/support/#policies It states “typically 7 years.”. All firmware upgrades will be sent to all devices until the End-of-support Date. We cannot guarantee that Cisco Meraki will issue updates or patches after the End-of-Support Date. The firmware upgrade would have to be supported by that hardware platform. If the newer firmware is not compatible with the legacy switch hardware it will not be issued the upgrade.
Licensing and bidding of maintenance - is the Cloud solution included in the Cisco portfolio in regards to maintenance discounts.
- The license to operate a Meraki device (AP, switch, security appliance) connected to the Meraki cloud is bundled with software and hardware support. This license and support bundle can be purchased as 1,3,5, 7 and 10 years prepaid. These part numbers are listed on the NY State Contract with a 32% discount.
Will resellers be providing Meraki in their bid responses?
- If requested resellers can respond with Meraki
Benefits and advantages of moving to a non-homogeneous environment.
- in progress
Patch management - network wide - or could do a testing on a dev network. Full scalable of patching. Can we see examples of the emails or notifications that are provided?
- Firmware upgrades are Network wide. Testing on a dev network is an option. They would need to create a separate test network as the updates are network-wide. I’ve included an attachment with a sample email notification and a sample dashboard notification.
Chipset - we need confirmation of what is on the Meraki switches. Will Cisco owned and developed chipset be integrated?
- Chipset is not released to the public even under NDA it is not the policy of Meraki to disclose this information.
SLA - guaranteed uptime (the 4 - 9's) as well as confirmation of the security of the Cloud traffic.
- Here is a link with our Service Level Agreement - https://meraki.cisco.com/trust#sla
- Here is a link to our End User and Data Protection Compliance page - https://meraki.cisco.com/trust#privacy
Confirmation - Licensing and maintenance are rolled into one. We need to confirm the 5 year licensing. An official part number on the bid.
Cisco/Meraki will continue to offer the 1 year License at a pro-rated 5-year price. The official part number is LIC-ENT-1YR
We also understand that the new E-Rate guidelines allow for multi-year applications. This may allow districts to apply for E-Rate
funds in the future and use the 3 year or 5 year license options
Agenda:
Meeting Minutes/Motions of August 13, 2014:
Items for discussion:
Smartschool Bond Act - links for Standards:
https://www.governor.ny.gov/press/04172014-smart-schools-commission
http://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/SmartSchoolsReport.pdf
Cisco-Meraki Cloud Managed Switches:
Review Feature set for small sized Cisco Meraki cloud managed switches
Here are the responses from Cisco and Meraki based on the conversation and the questions we agreed to be sent from the last Standards Committee. Please take some time to review and as it is the beginning of the school year I will ask the WAN Seniors to review and get back to me by September 26. Also Pat Doyle has to review for Erate.
What we need clarification on? -
Plan of Record for Meraki for switch upgrades
- Here is the official response from Lawrence Huang, Switch Product Manager. Cisco Meraki will continue to develop world-class cloud-managed products and will utilize best-in-class technologies as appropriate. For example, Cisco Meraki recently added CDP support to our cloud-managed switches to fully integrate with existing Cisco VoIP infrastructure. In addition, Cisco Meraki is compatible with major ISE use cases today and will add additional support based on customer requirements.
Documented difference between 2960 and 4500 - feature sets
- in progress
We need a list of protocols which are not supported as this is imperative to our support.
- in progress
Documented end of sale end of life on switches - 7 years was stated. - just please confirm that this is all features?
- The link to our EOL policy- https://meraki.cisco.com/support/#policies It states “typically 7 years.”. All firmware upgrades will be sent to all devices until the End-of-support Date. We cannot guarantee that Cisco Meraki will issue updates or patches after the End-of-Support Date. The firmware upgrade would have to be supported by that hardware platform. If the newer firmware is not compatible with the legacy switch hardware it will not be issued the upgrade.
Licensing and bidding of maintenance - is the Cloud solution included in the Cisco portfolio in regards to maintenance discounts.
- The license to operate a Meraki device (AP, switch, security appliance) connected to the Meraki cloud is bundled with software and hardware support. This license and support bundle can be purchased as 1,3,5, 7 and 10 years prepaid. These part numbers are listed on the NY State Contract with a 32% discount.
Will resellers be providing Meraki in their bid responses?
- If requested resellers can respond with Meraki
Benefits and advantages of moving to a non-homogeneous environment.
- in progress
Patch management - network wide - or could do a testing on a dev network. Full scalable of patching. Can we see examples of the emails or notifications that are provided?
- Firmware upgrades are Network wide. Testing on a dev network is an option. They would need to create a separate test network as the updates are network-wide. I’ve included an attachment with a sample email notification and a sample dashboard notification.
Chipset - we need confirmation of what is on the Meraki switches. Will Cisco owned and developed chipset be integrated?
- Chipset is not released to the public even under NDA it is not the policy of Meraki to disclose this information.
SLA - guaranteed uptime (the 4 - 9's) as well as confirmation of the security of the Cloud traffic.
- Here is a link with our Service Level Agreement - https://meraki.cisco.com/trust#sla
- Here is a link to our End User and Data Protection Compliance page - https://meraki.cisco.com/trust#privacy
Confirmation - Licensing and maintenance are rolled into one. We need to confirm the 5 year licensing. An official part number on the bid.
Cisco/Meraki will continue to offer the 1 year License at a pro-rated 5-year price. The official part number is LIC-ENT-1YR
We also understand that the new E-Rate guidelines allow for multi-year applications. This may allow districts to apply for E-Rate
funds in the future and use the 3 year or 5 year license options
Action Items:
Standards List: